Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/598356
16 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2015 The defamation game News 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Year in which libel suit was instituted Allied Daphne Caruana Galizia GWU Media.Link (In-Nazzjon, Mument, Net TV) Mediatoday (MaltaToday, Illum) Partit Laburista Partit Nazzjonalista Standard The size of each coloured ribbon corresponds to the total number of libel suits (Civil Court) filed against any one of the top ten most sued entities that particular year [see below] The red line traces the total number of defamation suits filed in the Maltese civil courts during that year, by any plaintiff not just the 'top 10' The Top 10 most sued: all media houses grouped according to parent company, MPs and social partners grouped according to organisation; Daphne Caruana Galizia appears in her own right as owner of her own blog. All libel suits were filed between 2008 and 2015, and do not include criminal suits filed in police stations (this means charges are brought by the police not by the plaintiff personally). The last six years have seen a spike in defamation suits filed on election years, while the midpoint of a legislature is evidently 'quiet time' for muckrakers and their imperious litigants. Election year 76 50 30 16 5 6 8 11 20 32 32 35